Chinese electric vehicle makers are nabbing market share in Brazil

Chinese electric vehicle makers are seeing sales pop in Brazil this year due to stronger demand for inexpensive EVs and plug-in hybrids.

Sales of passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles in Brazil were up 37% year-over-year to 208,000 units in April, according to Bem vindo ao Portal Fenabrave. While Fiat (STLA), Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAF), and General Motors (GM) still hold the top three spots with a combined 50% market share, Chinese automakers BYD Company (OTCPK:BYDDF), Chery Automobile, and Great Wall Motor (OTCPK:GWLLF) (OTCPK:GWLLY) have been quietly gaining ground on the Big Three and now account for a combined market share of 7%, according to Nikkei Asia. For the first four months of this year, Chinese automakers sold 48,000 new vehicles in Brazil, which was up 800% from the tally of a year ago for the same period. Notably, Brazil was the fourth-largest importer of Chinese automobiles in dollar terms during Q1. Last year, BYD Company (OTCPK:BYDDF) was the largest EV brand in Brazil.

Overall sales of EVs, plug-ins, and hybrid vehicles in Brazil were reported to have jumped 91% in 2023 to an all-time high of roughly 94,000 units. Chinese EV makers BYD Company (OTCPK:BYDDF), Chery, and Great Wall were all in the top five of that group. “Latin America is at the dawn of the EV era,” stated Brazilian auto industry expert Antonio Martins. “Consumers feel the novelty of the advanced technology, and the middle class is buying the EVs due in part to affordable price ranges,” he added. Chinese EV makers do to face the same regulatory resistance in Brazil that they are seeing in Europe and North America.

In U.S. premarket trading on Monday, Chinese EV stocks pushed higher. XPeng (XPEV) was up 1.80%, Nio (NIO) rose 1.97%, Li Auto (LI) gained 0.75%, and Zeeker (ZK) jumped 7.48%. BYD Company (OTCPK:BYDDF) fell 0.36% earlier in Hong Kong.